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Books Layout 31/8 book reviews The tree of ignorance Evolution emerges unscathed from the battle of creation. The Triumph of Evolution and the and as she says, “the two are essentially dis- Failure of Creationism tinct, and it was held to be dangerous to con- by Niles Eldredge fuse mythical and rational discourse”. That is Macmillan: 2000. 223 pp. £16.95 & $24.95 precisely what creationists do. Robert W. Cahn This leads me to suggest that perhaps the only way to counter the steady menace that In the third century BC, the Greek philoso- creationists represent to good scientific pher Aristarchus conceived the heliocentric education is to question their motives as COLLECTION/CORBIS BURSTEIN theory of the heavens. For his pains, Clean- publicly as possible; that is, to do what good thes, the head of the Stoics, a militant reli- scientists are trained not to do. In my capac- gious group, sought to have him indicted for ity as a non-American, non-biological and impiety. Two millennia later, the Catholic non-Christian scientist, I want to raise ques- Church did indict Galileo for the same impi- tions of a wholly non-scientific nature. Why ety. In 1925, in Tennessee, a group of reli- have creationists emerged as a political force gious fundamentalists, the ‘creationists’, who (for that is what they are) only in the United insisted (as they still do) on the literal truth of States? Further, why has creationism only the Old Testament account in Genesis, surfaced among Christians, and not Jews sought and failed to use legal recourse to pre- and Muslims (for whom the Old Testament vent a schoolteacher from teaching evolu- is also a holy book), even though these faiths tion. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. include their fair share of extreme funda- Niles Eldredge, a palaeontologist, has mentalists? become infuriated by the antics of modern- Perhaps it is the US constitution, and its day creationists, who still strive to use politi- emphasis on States’ rights, that has given US cal activism and legal action to curb the creationists a tool ideally suited to their pur- teaching of evolution in US schools. This pose. It seems that, time and again, their means that they have to get around the mas- claims for ‘equal time’ have been so cunning- sive evidence in support of evolution. For Creative thought: can evolution be beaten by a ly reformulated that even Federal Supreme instance, they insist on the ‘gospel truth’ of a question of faith? Court rulings can be bypassed. bishop’s calculation that the Earth is only For an outsider such as myself, educated some 4,000 years old. Accordingly, it must Eldredge tries valiantly to counter cre- when T. D. Lysenko in the Ukraine was, with follow that all conclusions based on fossils ationism with scientific arguments, as befits Stalin’s support, destroying Soviet genetics and their dating are an illusion. God put the a respectable working scientist. He mostly by enforcing a Lamarckian orthodoxy, fossils into the Earth to confound impious resists the temptation to question creation- attempts to lay down scientific correctness followers of the archdevil, Darwin, or falsi- ists’ motives; after all, a proper scientist does using the law are immensely dangerous. Per- fied their geological sequence. not ask whether an opponent’s mother failed haps evolutionists should give up trying to Eldredge’s book is in part a very clear and to nurture him properly or his father was counter creationists by convincing them sci- informative thumbnail sketch of the history unduly authoritarian. The one exception to entifically (a hopeless task), and simply of evolutionary theory, and of the experi- this self-denial is the repeated remark that appeal to the public and to judges in terms of mental findings on which it is based. He creationists are convinced that the (Christ- clear and present political danger. places special emphasis on the uneven pace of ian subset of) humanity will behave morally But what intrigues me is: why is creation- change, stasis alternating with rapid changes only if they submit their intellects in every ism confined to US protestant fundamental- at times of great evolutionary stress. He also particular to the word of God as revealed in ists? Ultraorthodox Jews and Muslims place analyses the ever-growing links between evo- the Old Testament. It is surprising that more emphasis on ritual, dietary obser- lutionary theory and genetic insights. those who call themselves cre- vance and behaving appropriately Furthermore, he offers a hair-raising ationist scientists do not on holy days, than on correct account of the creationists’ twists and turns, call to mind the injunc- belief. They would perhaps in particular their repeated attempts to tion to eschew the fruit approve Elizabeth I’s change State law so that biology teachers are of the Tree of Knowl- assertion that she was forced to give ‘creation science’ equal time edge. not inclined to open and emphasis as evolution. Although they The book does windows into men’s seek scientific respectability, Eldredge is at not go into the dis- souls. By contrast, pains to make it clear that creationists are not tinction between creationists seem to scientists. A point he stresses particularly is mythos and logos be wholly focused on that creationists regard disagreements on as expounded in belief. It would take a points of detail between evolutionists as evi- Karen Armstrong’s better historian than dence against their scientific credibility. splendid book on me to assess how far Creationist scientists, we are told, only religious fundamen- the legacy of the New accept as ‘facts’ what all creationists accept as talism (in several England puritans who a matter of faith. In fact, such ‘facts’ are by faiths), The Battle for God fled intolerance in Old Eng- their nature unfalsifiable, and therefore not (HarperCollins, 2000). Gen- land, only to establish an intol- scientific facts at all. esis is mythos, evolution is logos, erant society in the New World, has © 2000 Macmillan Magazines Ltd NATURE | VOL 406 | 31 AUGUST 2000 | www.nature.com 935 book reviews worked through to modern creationism, and if that is indeed the prime source of the scourge, why it migrated from New England (where creationism is not today a menace) to the South. Meanwhile, Eldredge’s book, readily accessible to any educated reader, deserves to be widely read. I Robert W. Cahn is in the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QZ, UK. Martian chronicles In Search of Life on Mars by Malcolm Walter Perseus/Allen & Unwin: 1999. 170 pp. $25, £8.99 Down to Earth Dead Mars, Dying Earth by John E. Brandenburg and Monica Rix Building Planet Earth: Five Billion Years of lava on the way, the book reveals the origins of Paxson Earth History (Cambridge University Press, the continents and discusses what causes Element: 1999. 306 pp. £16.99, $26.95 $39.95, £25.00) by Peter Cattermole details the modern-day natural disasters. Familiar Kenneth Nealson geological evolution of Earth. Through a range features, such as Ayers Rock (above), are of colourful diagrams and photographs the described and their genesis detailed. The book The search for extraterrestrial life has tradi- book explains the mechanics behind the also looks at the methods used in geophysics tionally focused on Mars, often with acrimo- planet’s development. Sampling fossils and and geochemistry. nious results. The ‘pro-life’ groups claim that unquestionably there is, or has been, life on Mars. The ‘pro-choice’ groups take a more face with the current Mars meteorite analy- thing in the complex geobiological setting, cautious view, often paraphrasing Carl ses, and perhaps will face with returned Mars and the frustrations of being half-right, or Sagan (“Extraordinary claims require extra- samples. even wrong, as the work has proceeded. ordinary results”) and Richard Feynman Walter is pro-choice: he has a healthy In almost every way imaginable Dead (“Unfortunately, you are the easiest person scepticism about the existence of life on Mars Mars, Dying Earth represents a stark contrast [for you] to fool”). The acrimony often arises and spends a good deal of time discussing to Walter’s book. I found it difficult to read: it because the pro-lifers view such caution as why one should have such a view. Yet he moves from subject to subject distractingly. an anti-life stance, while the pro-choice maintains an open mind. In particular, there It is actually two books in one — the first a group would gladly be convinced by high- are discussions of the problems encountered discussion of the history of Mars and the quality data. in dealing with samples that have sat on our arguments for and against life there. The In these two books, we have some classic planet for many years. Contamination by pro-life arguments are readily accepted, examples of these views. Malcolm Walter both organic materials and living organisms while those against are largely dismissed. The explains the difficulties of ascertaining with is virtually impossible to prevent. These authors make a number of claims without certainty the nature of life, even on this plan- problems, coupled with the use of structures showing any evidence to support them. By et, and suggests some cautious approaches to to infer life (and the ability of many mineral the end they have ‘established’ the history of getting the right answer. Brandenburg and forms to mimic structures), make the unam- Mars, the existence of life on the planet, how Paxson, on the other hand, accept that life biguous interpretation of structural data dif- it was discovered, how and when it was extin- has been discovered on Mars and elsewhere, ficult.
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